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Measure Twice; Cut Once.

They say that wisdom comes with age. If that is true, I must be really wise. I have noticed something peculiar about getting wise—I am not in the hurry that I used to be. I seem to take my time more now. There is no rush. No hurry. I can start a project on one of my old cars, and have no urgent need to get it done. I have time. I can plan. I can think the project through. I organize. My tools are all neat and tidy; the garage is clean and uncluttered. I never disable both of my oldies at the same time. I can always take at least one of them to a car show that way. Wow, I am abundant with wisdom.

But this is not how our real work days go. We live in a fast paced world. We cannot take our time. We have to get it done. The customer is barking at you. Your boss is barking at you. You are doing the best you can; trying hard to keep your head above water. Arms are flailing. Legs are kicking. The desk phone is ringing. The cell phone is doing whatever it does to tell you that you have 52 emails and 10 people are looking for you. You are getting text messages from people who live in Florida and want to tell you how warm it is here!

The reality of life in this hectic work environment is, however, the potential of making mistakes. Mistakes that may end up costing you or someone else time and money. And, while we hope this never happens, personal safety. We all need to slow down on occasion and think. Remember the old expression “measure twice; cut once”? My father instilled that in me from my childhood. We all need to identify ways to schedule and plan “thinking” time. I will talk about that in my next article; “What was I Thinking”. But for now, take a deep breath, slow down and think first. Measure twice; cut once. See you soon!